Leyland searches for pitching coaches

TIGERS UPDATE
Pitching coach search continues
BY JOHN LOWE • FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER • October 5, 2008

On the first weekend of the Tigers’ off-season, manager Jim Leyland gave this update on the team’s search for a pitching coach:

He expects at first to interview three or four candidates. He didn’t disclose the names of any candidates.

• After those interviews, he might widen the search.

• He expects to begin the interviews in Florida after he arrives there a week from Tuesday for the team’s organizational meetings.

• Leyland reiterated that he expects to hire the pitching coach before he hires the bullpen coach. That way he can make sure the bullpen coach is a good fit.

As this season ended, the Tigers fired pitching coach Chuck Hernandez and bullpen coach Jeff Jones. The Tigers finished 12th in the 14-team American League in team ERA.

Tigers ready to start interviews for new pitching coach

By JOHN LOWE AND JON PAUL MOROSI • FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITERS • October 13, 2008

The Tigers will begin conducting interviews Tuesday for their pitching-coach vacancy, manager Jim Leyland said today.

Neither Leyland nor general manager Dave Dombrowski has announced the names of any of the candidates.

“We will talk to four candidates in the next three days,” Leyland said in a telephone interview today.

Leyland said there also could be a fifth candidate interviewed this week.

“We will see if one of these guys is the guy,” Leyland said. “If not, we could widen the search.”

The interviews will take place in conjunction with the club's organizational meetings in Florida.

Leyland said that once the pitching coach was hired, the team would go about filling its vacancy at bullpen coach. Leyland wants to hire the pitching coach first so that he's sure the pitching coach and bullpen coach would be compatible in their working relationship.

The two jobs became open when the Tigers fired pitching coach Chuck Hernandez and bullpen coach Jeff Jones at the end of this season. The Tigers finished 12th in the 14-team A.L. in ERA this season.

MINOR MATTERS: Tigers director of minor league operations Dan Lunetta said the team was considering candidates to succeed Victor Trasoff-Jilg as minor league medical coordinator.

Lunetta declined to say why Trasoff-Jilg's contract was not renewed at the end of the season. “He did a fine job, and we wish him well, but sometimes you need to make a change,” Lunetta said.

Lunetta said all the managers and coaches from the farm system were asked to return in 2009, although Ryan Newman, the manager at short-season Class A Oneonta, left to take a job with another organization.

Because they plan to retain such a high percentage of their on-field personnel, it's not clear whether the Tigers will offer a job to Matt Walbeck for next season.

Walbeck was named Baseball America's Minor League Manager of the Year in 2007, for his work with Detroit's Double-A Erie affiliate. He was recently dismissed by the Texas Rangers after one season as their third-base coach.

“I don't know that there is a position here for Matt -- and that's no reflection on Matt,” Lunetta said. “You have to have an opening before you consider somebody.”

Tigers not planning interview with pitching coach Leo Mazzone

By JON PAUL MOROSI • FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER • October 15, 2008

Leo Mazzone is one of the best-known and most accomplished pitching coaches in baseball. He is a free agent, now that his contract with the Baltimore Orioles has expired.

The Tigers are currently looking for a new pitching coach. Mazzone has interest in the job. But at the moment, he does not appear to be a candidate.

Scott Pederson, one of Mazzone’s business managers, told the Free Press this morning that there are currently no plans for Mazzone to interview with the Tigers.

“He hasn’t heard anything from the Tigers (regarding an interview),” Pederson said. “He’d love to be back on the field again. He thinks Detroit would be an incredible place to coach. He respects Jim Leyland a lot.”

Team officials are conducting interviews for the position during the organization’s annual meetings in Lakeland, Fla., this week.

Leyland, the Tigers’ manager, said Monday that the team planned to interview four candidates — and possibly a fifth — this week. “We will see if one of these guys is the guy,” Leyland said then. “If not, we could widen the search.”

Mazzone, who turns 60 on Thursday, was pitching coach of the Atlanta Braves from June 1990 through the end of the 2005 season. During that time, the Braves won 14 National League East titles. He coached the N.L. Cy Young Award winner in six of those seasons.

He left Atlanta to sign a three-year contract with the Orioles. His close friend Sam Perlozzo was Baltimore’s manager at the time.

But the Orioles finished with a losing record in 2006, and Perlozzo was fired midway through the 2007 season. Mazzone was dismissed after that season and did not coach in the majors this year.

Hey Leyland, why not Leo Mazzone???

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

Hey Leyland, why not Leo Mazzone???

Maybe because of the last paragraph in the posted article?

gs78 wrote:

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

Hey Leyland, why not Leo Mazzone???

Maybe because of the last paragraph in the posted article?

Most people think it is because Mazzone knows more about pitching than Leyland, and they have differing views on pitch counts among other things!

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

gs78 wrote:

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

Hey Leyland, why not Leo Mazzone???

Maybe because of the last paragraph in the posted article?

Most people think it is because Mazzone knows more about pitching than Leyland, and they have differing views on pitch counts among other things!

Who doesn't know more about pitching than Leyland?


Leyland could hire the panhandler, who chants " Eat Em Up Tigers; " Eat Em Up" outside Comerica Park; and even he knows more about pitching than Leyland

We need a new pitching coach bad, and Jonesy should be our pen coach.

gdennis59 wrote:

We need a new pitching coach bad, and Jonesy should be our pen coach.

Or Kenny!

laprimamirala wrote:

Or Kenny!

I would like to see Kenny work as a bullpen coach under the training of a seasoned pitching coach, first... then move him to pitching coach.

Or, Have Kenny work as a minor league pitching coach, and move up one of our successful minor league pitching coaches to Detroit, to start.

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

I would like to see Kenny work as a bullpen coach under the training of a seasoned pitching coach, first... then move him to pitching coach.

Or, Have Kenny work as a minor league pitching coach, and move up one of our successful minor league pitching coaches to Detroit, to start.

Get to it Leyland

Twins' Knapp interviews with Leyland about Tigers' pitching coach job

By JON PAUL MOROSI • FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER • October 15, 2008

Rick Knapp, the minor league pitching coordinator of the division rival Minnesota Twins, is a candidate to become the Tigers’ pitching coach, an industry official confirmed to the Free Press.


Knapp, 46, interviewed with Detroit manager Jim Leyland on Wednesday in Lakeland, Fla., according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, which first reported the news.

Leyland has great respect for the Twins, who have been perennial winners in the American League Central despite a modest payroll. Good, young pitching has been one of their hallmarks, and that can be traced to Knapp.

This season alone, the Minnesota rotation included four homegrown pitchers who won 10 or more games: Kevin Slowey, Glen Perkins, Scott Baker and Nick Blackburn.

Leyland has previously said that he plans to interview at least four candidates this week. It’s possible that the Tigers could reach a decision in the next several days.

Free Press wrote:

At the very least, it is clear that Leo Mazzone, one of the best-known pitching coaches in baseball, is not in the running.

Mazzone has interest in the job, but Scott Pederson, one of his business managers, told the Free Press on Wednesday that there were no plans for him to interview.

“He hasn’t heard anything from the Tigers (regarding an interview),” Pederson said. “He’d love to be back on the field again. He thinks Detroit would be an incredible place to coach. He respects Jim Leyland a lot.”

Mazzone, who turns 60 on Thursday, was pitching coach of the Atlanta Braves from June 1990 through the end of the 2005 season. During that time, the Braves won 14 National League East titles.

He left Atlanta to sign a three-year contract with the Baltimore Orioles. His close friend Sam Perlozzo was Baltimore’s manager at the time.

But the Orioles finished with a losing record in 2006, and Perlozzo was fired midway through the 2007 season. Mazzone was dismissed after that season and did not coach in the majors this year.

Chuck Hernandez was fired as the Tigers’ pitching coach at the end of the season, and a considerable task awaits his successor. Detroit had the third-worst ERA (4.90) and second-highest walk total (644) in the American League this year.

After he announced Hernandez’s dismissal, Leyland was asked what kind of coach would be needed to connect with the team’s current pitchers. His response: “I would have to say at least one of the apostles.”

Knapp, who has served in his current position for the past 12 seasons, has not been to the big leagues as a player or coach. But he has helped instill the strike-throwing ethic that enabled the Twins to have the lowest walk total in the majors this year.

Minnesota issued 406 free passes – 238 fewer than Detroit. That was among the reasons why the Twins finished ahead of the Tigers for the seventh time in the past eight seasons.

I want them to interview Mazzone.

Tigers narrowing in on pitching coach candidates; decision could come in next few days

By JON PAUL MOROSI • FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER • October 16, 2008

Rick Knapp, the minor league pitching coordinator of the division rival Minnesota Twins, is a candidate to become the Tigers’ pitching coach, an industry official confirmed to the Free Press.

Knapp, 46, interviewed with the Tigers on Wednesday in Lakeland, Fla., according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, which first reported the news.

Detroit manager Jim Leyland has great admiration for the Twins, who have been perennial winners in the American League Central despite a modest payroll. Good, young pitching has been one of their hallmarks in recent years, and Knapp is among many in the organization deserving of credit for that.

This season alone, the Minnesota rotation included four homegrown pitchers who won 10 or more games: Kevin Slowey, Glen Perkins, Scott Baker and Nick Blackburn.

Matt Garza, another Twins draft pick, won 11 games this year for Tampa Bay. Francisco Liriano came up through the Minnesota farm system after a trade with the San Francisco Giants; when healthy, he has been among the best young pitchers in baseball.

Although it may be too early to judge the strength of Knapp’s candidacy, the Tigers have indicated that they could reach a decision within the next several days. Leyland said he would interview four or five candidates this week, so the field appears narrow.

Dave Dombrowski, the team president and general manager, declined to say on Wednesday how many candidates had already interviewed.

At the very least, it is clear that Leo Mazzone, one of the best-known pitching coaches in baseball, is not in the running.

Mazzone has interest in the job, but Scott Pederson, one of his business managers, told the Free Press on Wednesday that there were no plans for him to interview.

“He hasn’t heard anything from the Tigers (regarding an interview),” Pederson said. “He’d love to be back on the field again. He thinks Detroit would be an incredible place to coach. He respects Jim Leyland a lot.”

Mazzone, who turns 60 on Thursday, was pitching coach of the Atlanta Braves from June 1990 through the end of the 2005 season. During that time, the Braves won 14 National League East titles.

He left Atlanta to sign a three-year contract with the Baltimore Orioles. His close friend Sam Perlozzo was Baltimore’s manager at the time.

But the Orioles finished with a losing record in 2006, and Perlozzo was fired midway through the 2007 season. Mazzone was dismissed after that season and did not coach in the majors this year.

Chuck Hernandez was fired as the Tigers’ pitching coach at the end of the season, and a considerable task awaits his successor. Detroit had the third-worst ERA (4.90) and second-highest walk total (644) in the American League this year.

After he announced Hernandez’s dismissal, Leyland was asked what kind of coach would be needed to connect with the team’s current pitchers. His response: “I would have to say at least one of the apostles.”

Knapp, who has served in his current position for the past 12 seasons, has not been to the big leagues as a player or coach. But he has helped instill the strike-throwing ethic that enabled the Twins to have the lowest walk total in the majors this year.

Minnesota issued 406 free passes – 238 fewer than Detroit. That was among the reasons why the Twins finished ahead of the Tigers for the seventh time in the past eight seasons.

bobrob2004 wrote:

Free Press wrote:

At the very least, it is clear that Leo Mazzone, one of the best-known pitching coaches in baseball, is not in the running.

Mazzone has interest in the job, but Scott Pederson, one of his business managers, told the Free Press on Wednesday that there were no plans for him to interview.

“He hasn’t heard anything from the Tigers (regarding an interview),” Pederson said. “He’d love to be back on the field again. He thinks Detroit would be an incredible place to coach. He respects Jim Leyland a lot.”

Mazzone, who turns 60 on Thursday, was pitching coach of the Atlanta Braves from June 1990 through the end of the 2005 season. During that time, the Braves won 14 National League East titles.

He left Atlanta to sign a three-year contract with the Baltimore Orioles. His close friend Sam Perlozzo was Baltimore’s manager at the time.

But the Orioles finished with a losing record in 2006, and Perlozzo was fired midway through the 2007 season. Mazzone was dismissed after that season and did not coach in the majors this year.

Chuck Hernandez was fired as the Tigers’ pitching coach at the end of the season, and a considerable task awaits his successor. Detroit had the third-worst ERA (4.90) and second-highest walk total (644) in the American League this year.

After he announced Hernandez’s dismissal, Leyland was asked what kind of coach would be needed to connect with the team’s current pitchers. His response: “I would have to say at least one of the apostles.”

Knapp, who has served in his current position for the past 12 seasons, has not been to the big leagues as a player or coach. But he has helped instill the strike-throwing ethic that enabled the Twins to have the lowest walk total in the majors this year.

Minnesota issued 406 free passes – 238 fewer than Detroit. That was among the reasons why the Twins finished ahead of the Tigers for the seventh time in the past eight seasons.

I want them to interview Mazzone.

I agree with you!

There has to be more to the story

How come no other team wants Mazzone as pitching coach?

Maybe he's a jerk??

tigersaint wrote:

Maybe he's a jerk??

Maybe?


It seems odd he hasn't landed an MLB job

Let's hope the Tigers made the right decision